Clive Palmer v Mark McGowan defamation case as it happened: WA Attorney-General says insults attacking Palmer’s weight were just banter

Some big things came out in the wash today.

Aside from the obviously salacious text exchanges between the WA Premier and Attorney-General constantly referring to Clive Palmer’s weight the biggest revelation came from who Mark McGowan thought to message when he had big news to share.

We saw Mr McGowan decided to give one of the state’s richest men, Kerry Stokes, a quick heads-up via text about the extraordinary Palmer legislation a minute before it was actually introduced to Parliament.

This was despite Mr McGowan and Attorney-General John Quigley warning each other while drafting the legislation that it needed to be kept secret to avoid alerting Mr Palmer before it hit Parliament.

The legislation even came as a surprise to members of the Labor party.

Later in the text exchange the Premier and the media mogul joked with each other about front pages from the Seven West Media chairman’s newspaper The West Australian that depicted Mr Palmer as a cane toad and cockroach.

Mr McGowan said he “appreciated the support” from Mr Stokes over that period.

The exchange was a rare insight into the domes of power that loom over the state and another example of the political clout media proprietors can wield in the Australian political landscape.

With the extraordinary evidence from both Mr McGowan and Mr Palmer now on record the court will meet again later in March to discuss the tender of documents before making final submissions in April.

Thanks once again for reading and have a great Wednesday.

WA Attorney-General John Quigley’s evidence is now over but not before he was grilled once more by Peter Gray SC over the ABC interview.

Mr Quigley maintained that he and the Premier Mark McGowan did not identify weaknesses in Mr Palmer’s position on Balmoral South and did not pursue any tactics to block off his damages claims.

But Mr Gray said that contradicted comments he made during the ABC interview, where the Attorney-General suggested the government had found weaknesses and likened the saga to a boxing match and a game of chess.

Mr Gray said Mr Quigley’s suggestion was “ridiculous” and false.

“I’ve been the Attorney-General for five years. I’m 73 years of age. I come here on my oath to tell the truth, regardless of the consequences,” Mr Quigley said.

Mr Gray also put it to Mr Quigley once again the government was deceitful by suggesting to the mediator and Mr Palmer’s companies that it would engage in further mediation while drafting legislation that would “torpedo” any such action.

“No sir, I don’t agree with that,” Mr Quigley replied.

Mr Quigley had cancelled his flight back to Perth with the expectation he would have to continue giving evidence later this week.

That’s the end of in-person evidence and the court has been adjourned to March 18.

With that we will close our live blog for the day, thank you for joining us.

Mr Palmer’s lawyer Peter Gray SC is homing in on the radio interview in which WA Attorney-General John Quigley likened the Balmoral South legislation to a game of chess and a boxing match, referring to the government’s tactics to block any challenge of the legislation:

“Like my new neighbour Danny Green says, you’ve just got to jab, jab, jab with your right and move him over to the left and then just knock him down with a right … a left hook.”

“I used a clumsy sporting metaphor … but I was pleased that we got the legislation up through the [Legislative] Assembly,” Mr Quigley says now.

Clive Palmer’s lawyer Peter Gray SC has questioned WA Attorney-General John Quigley over his habit of referring to Mr Palmer as a “big fat liar” in text messages with Mark McGowan.

Mr Quigley says it is banter.

The text messages have featured heavily during today’s hearing, revealing the derogatory terms the two politicians commonly used to refer to Mr Palmer, usually revolving around his weight.

Clive Palmer’s lawyer Peter Gray SC is cross-examining WA Attorney-General John Quigley about his knowledge of the arbitration processes under way between the state and Mr Palmer’s companies over the Balmoral South project.

He is also delving into why a government department sent a letter agreeing to a mediation with Mr Palmer and his companies over Balmoral South when the government was drafting legislation that would have dissolved any ongoing mediations.

“You did not actually intend for the state to attempt to reach a consensus resolution at all, did you?” Mr Gray asks.

“I wasn’t involved,” Mr Quigley says.

“I don’t know what the intention of the department or the people managing the [Balmoral South] state agreement was.”

Mr McGowan’s gruelling two days of evidence are finally over as Peter Gray SC concludes his cross-examination.

Attorney-General John Quigley has now been called.

With less than an hour left in the court’s day it is likely Mr Quigley’s evidence will run over into Friday.

The court is unable to sit on Thursday because one of Mr McGowan’s legal team is still unable to front court because of COVID-19.

Back in Perth, the state’s Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson and Education Minister Sue Ellery have conducted a press conference to announce new COVID-19 isolation rules in school settings.

Ms Sanderson was asked if the announcement was a distraction from revelations in Federal Court about text messages between Mr McGowan and Kerry Stokes revealing their close relationship.

“I’m not going to comment on what is literally happening at the moment in court,” she said.

“The Premier conducts himself with the highest integrity and he has shown that since he became Premier in 2017.”

Ms Sanderson on Wednesday. Credit: Peter de Kruijff

Ms Ellery also declined to comment when asked whether language such as calling Mr Palmer a “big fat liar” was appropriate.

“There’s a court case ongoing, there’s been news reports today that language has been used in text messages, I’m not going to comment on a case that is afoot now,” she said.

Ms Ellery on Wednesday. Credit: Peter de Kruijff

We have now moved on to a letter that was sent to a mediator and Clive Palmer’s companies from Richard Sellers, former director-general of the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation.

The letter, sent just weeks before the Palmer legislation was introduced, said the state intended to take part in a third round of mediation with Mr Palmer and his companies over the Balmoral South damages claim.

Mr Palmer’s lawyer Peter Gray says this letter was deceitful because it was sent despite Mr McGowan’s knowledge the state intended to introduce legislation that would null and void any and all arbitration processes.

“So when the state instrumentality for which you were responsible represented … that the state was going to participate in the mediation, that representation was knowingly [false] and you were misleading both the mediator and the Palmer companies,” Mr Gray says.

“That was a sneaky and underhanded way to behave, wasn’t it; it was deceitful and dishonourable?”

“No, no and no,” Mr McGowan responds.

Mr McGowan says it is ridiculous to suggest this is dishonourable and in these circumstances the ends justified the means.

Clive Palmer’s lawyer Peter Gray SC is now delving into Mark McGowan’s 2017 election promise that if elected his government would have a “gold standard of transparency.”

Mr Gray says the secretive nature in which the Palmer legislation was planned and drafted did not measure up to this.

Mr McGowan denies this, but says extraordinary situations sometime required extraordinary responses.

“Gold standard transparency doesn’t apply to every single thing you do,” he says.

Clive Palmer’s lawyer Peter Gray SC is now getting to the point, taking aim at the secrecy employed in drafting the Palmer legislation.

“What I want to suggest to you, Mr Gowan, is to approach things in the way that you’ve just agreed you did was sneaky,” he said.

“No,” Mr McGowan replied.

“Was underhanded,” Mr Gray continued.

“No.”

“And dishonourable,” Mr Gray finished.

Mr Gray also suggested the legislation was rammed through Parliament in a “ludicrously” short time of 48 hours.

Mr McGowan denied this proposition and said it received support from all parties in Parliament at the time except for One Nation.